Posted!

Join the Conversation

Comments

Welcome to our new and improved comments, which are for subscribers only.
This is a test to see whether we can improve the experience for you.
You do not need a Facebook profile to participate.

You will need to register before adding a comment.
Typed comments will be lost if you are not logged in.

Please be polite.
It's OK to disagree with someone's ideas, but personal attacks, insults, threats, hate speech, advocating violence and other violations can result in a ban.
If you see comments in violation of our community guidelines, please report them.

OPINION

Our opinion: New FSU ticket policy tough but fair

Published 3:26 p.m. ET Nov. 16, 2015

Florida State’s Dalvin Cook celebrates on the field with the crowd behind him at Doak Campbell Stadium in September.(Photo: Getty Images)

To remain competitive across all areas and compete for championships, Florida State must continue to invest in its student-athletes, coaches and facilities.

And that usually means loyal fans must dig deeper into their wallets to help ensure those investments pay dividends.

The Seminoles’ new ticket policy reflects the cost of doing business and the serious challenges that face intercollegiate athletics today.

Last Thursday, the FSU Athletics Board approved changes to its ticket priority policy beginning next football season.

Changes will include an increase of slightly more than 8-percent across each Seminole Boosters, Inc., donor membership level and a method that sets minimum per-seat requirements by section inside Doak Campbell Stadium.

The change will affect more than 96 percent of current ticket holders (nearly 40,000 from Tallahassee, around the state and beyond) who help fill 82,300-seat Doak Campbell Stadium on autumn Saturdays.

An increasing number of schools have moved to a per-seat requirement that provides a better match between the value of specific seat locations and the minimum amount of the donation required to qualify for those seat locations.

It is a dramatic departure from FSU’s previous policy that served it well for nearly 40 years.

The donation level in that policy determined how many seats fans could purchase, no matter where the seats were located.

FSU officials believe the new system features improved equity because the contribution requirement is based upon seat location.

The better the seat, the higher the price tag.

While value can be subjective and personal, the rising costs of college athletics mandated this necessary step.

Seminole Boosters, Inc., the fundraising arm of FSU athletics, worked painstakingly on a proposal it felt was fair and equitable across all membership levels.

The next step that starts this week for the organization – and it is just as critical to the policy’s success – is to educate boosters and ticket-holders about the changes.

Providing the best game-day atmosphere while remaining economically accessible to fans is a stern test that faces FSU and other top-tier Division I programs.

Seminole Boosters, Inc., explained in a letter to its 15,000 membership that it projects the policy to generate an additional $2 million next season.

The organization further explained it realizes it’s asking more from supporters, but stressed the changes will allow it to provide more to members and fans.

Change is difficult, especially when money is involved.

Every penny – or million, in this case – counts.

It has been 10 years since the last major change in the Seminoles’ ticket priority policy, and much has transpired during that time.

Scholarship costs have risen from $7.5 to $11.5 million since 2006. Salaries for coaches have soared – FSU’s Jimbo Fisher ranks fifth among the nation’s best-paid at $5.1 million annually.

Expenses for teams have escalated – FSU won its third national title two seasons ago but lost nearly a half-million dollars up front on its BCS trip to California, though projected increased revenue from winning helped erase the deficit.

And, yes, let’s not forget that 65 percent of Seminole season ticket holders live more than 150 miles from Tallahassee, impacting their purchasing decisions, too.

Last May, USA Today reported in its annual analysis of economics of Division I sports programs that just 24 of 230 big-time athletics programs at public universities in 2013-14 met the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s definition of financially self-sufficient – money they generate (excluding student fees and subsidies) exceeds what they spend.

FSU was one of those fortunate schools at No. 17 with total revenues of $104,774,474 compared to total expenses of $98,866,182, according to the report.

Those numbers might look and sound like monopoly money, but that’s the reality that FSU must balance.

Board members expressed their concerns with the ticket priority increase.

However, even with the changes adopted, officials said FSU still is below the donation requirement of most of its geographic peers in the ACC and SEC.

And they said continued investments will be made to student-athletes, coaches and facilities.

While fans will feel the financial pinch from the new ticket priority policy, their commitment and loyalty help ensure FSU’s success.